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The big, hot belching of dinosaurs

Outside climate experts say the study makes some sense, but the warming from dinosaur gas back then is dwarfed by man-made carbon dioxide today from industry.

NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt quickly ran some calculations based on Wilkinson's figures. Dinosaur methane would have increased temperatures about half a degree, which is a fraction of what has been caused by the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil in the 20th century, he said.

It also is wrong to suggest the study blames dinosaur flatulence for their extinction, Holtz said. He noted that the sauropods started showing up, and getting gassy, around 200 million years ago and did not die off until 65 million years ago.

University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver said: "Frankly, methane emissions from dinosaur burps is probably not the number one thing we should be concerned about in modern society."

Questions:

1. How many tons of methane came from dinosaurs?

2. What were the biggest and gassiest dinosaurs?

3. What is warming from dinosaur gas dwarfed by?

Answers:

1. An estimated 570 million tons.

2. Sauropods.

3. Man-made carbon dioxide.

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.